The Swiss Confederation of 1803-1813 consisted of 19 cantons, each
with a war flag consisting of two flame colours in the quarters and
the white cross "traversante". Cantonal crests normally were
centered on the junction of the cross. In 1814 three more cantons
joined, and in 1817 Switzerland started to slowly gain some military
uniformity. French-style cravats in two cantonal colours were
replaced on the cantonal war flags by a federal red-white cravat.
Most cantonal crests in the center of the flags were replaced by a
simple inscription in gold of the name of the canton on the
horizontal bar of the white cross.

In 1833 Aargau was the first to break ranks and adopt a federal war
flag in place of the cantonal one. General Guillaume-Henri Dufour
championed this idea, and in 1840 he prevailed: every canton gave up
its own war flag and adopted the federal white cross on white field
with cravat in cantonal colours (the reverse of previous practice).
The federal Constitution of 1848 reinforced this concept. In 1884,
the Canton name on one side of the flag was replaced by the battalion
number (e.g. Fusilier Bat. 32)T.F. Mills, 26 August 1997

At the beginning of the 20th century, flamed flags were still in use, with the
white cross replaced by a baroque blazon in the
centre of the flag. These decorative (but heraldically poor) flags had been
used until WWII and then somewhat forgotten in preference of the current
cantonal flags.Pascal Gross, 30 June, 2002

The two-colour flamed canton war flags of 1803-1840, and the
two-colour cravats are as follows (in order of the cantons' entry
into the Confederation):

1291

Uri

yellow/black

1291

Schwyz

red

1291

Unterwalden

red/white

1332

Lucerne

white/blue

1351

Zurich

blue/white

1352

Glarus

red/black/white/red

1352

Zug

white/blue/white

1353

Bern

red/black

1481

Fribourg

black/white

1481

Solothurn

red/white

1501

Basel

BS white/black BL white/red

1501

Schaffhausen

green/black

1513

Appenzell

white/black

1803

St. Gallen

green/white

1803

Graubunden

black/white/blue

1803

Aargau

black/blue

1803

Thurgau

green/white

1803

Ticino

red/blue (no flames)

1803

Vaud

white/green

1815

Valais

white/red

1815

Neuchatel

red/yellow

1815

Geneve

yellow/red

1979

Jura

white/red (no flames)

T.F. Mills, 26 August 1997

image
by T.F. Mills

In Bern a particular flamed flag is extremely popular. The flames are
black-red with a white cross reaching to the edge. This is the old war flag
of the canton of Bern from the time before the founding of the Swiss
Confederation.

Harald Müller, 14 May 1996

image
by T.F. Mills

Aargau joined the Swiss confederation in 1803 and in 1805 adopted a
military organisation and war flag. This flag was typical of the
period for most cantons: white cross "traversante" dividing the flag
into four quarters with "piles wavy" radiating from the center.
Almost every canton had bicoloured flames, Aargau being black and
blue. The name of the canton was inscribed in gold on the horizontal
arms of the cross.

T.F. Mills, 01 September 1997

image
by T.F. Mills

Some time ago I posted the Neuchatel war flag of 1815, principally by
way of illustrating the central coat of arms (which included the
Prussian eagle). The general pattern in 1803-1817 was for cantons to
display the coat of arms in the center, and thereafter these were replaced by
the inscribed name of the canton instead. Aargau, as a new canton in
1803, opted for the newer style from the start.T.F. Mills, 01 September 1997

The 1836-1843 war standard of Neuchatel is displayed - although not described - in Neubecker (1932). The standard is a
square flag with a white cross (arms approximately 1 in 7), with each
quarter containing 7 flames in orange-black-white-orange-black-white-orange (the black may be dark brown
instead, but the colours of Prussia would make sense here). There is no charge on the cross.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 06 July 2002

The standard of the Swiss guard of the King of France is mentioned in Neubecker (1932). This flag is also a Swiss flaming flag, with a white cross (arms
approximately 1 in 12) with each quarter containing 9 flames: the outer two black
and the others alternating gold and red. The black flames are half as wide
as the other flames, and at the edges half as wide as the cross arms.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 06 July 2002

Over ten years ago, the old flamed war flags were redesigned for public sale. Created by Art Fahnen AG in Luzern and Aarwangen with the supervision of the SWF (Stiftung Schweizer Wappen und Fahnen, Foundation for Swiss Arms and Flags), these flags have no official function and are purely decorative.

The design readopts the white cross with the 4 fields with 7 flames each but
as only 10 cantons have their own colours (Bern, Uri, Schwyz, Glarus,
Schaffhausen, GraubŁnden, Aargau, Ticino, Neuchatel and Geneva), there has
been a need to differentiate the others. This has been done by adding the
cantonal arms in the center of the white cross on all the flamed flags. As
Schwyz has only one cantonal colour (red), there has been a need to
separate the 7 flames by a small white fimbriation. A national version of this flag design has also been created. SWF (2001)Pascal Gross, 30 June, 2002

Infantry, engineer, medical, and rescue units of battalion size
carry a Fahne/drapeau/bandiera (colour) while
units of other branches have a Standarte/e'tendard/stendardo (standard).

A colour is the national flag, 1.1 meters square, with the title of the unit
in gold Roman letters 65-75 mm high on the horizontal bar of the cross. The
Fahne is nailed to a 2.7 m long staff, painted in a red and white spiral and
topped with a spearhead 26.5 cm long. Below the spearhead is a cravat
(Schleife) in red and white for Confederation units or in the cantonal
colours for cantonal units. An example is displayed above.

A Standarte is similar but smaller, 60 x 60 cm, mounted with a sleeve on a
2.15 m staff red and white spiral staff with an 18.5 cm spearhead and a
cravat in either Confederation or cantonal colours as appropriate. It is
trimmed with fringe 47 mm wide in alternating red and white sections.